A Shadow of Wings
by SlateWalker
Summary: The history books had it right, Tony thinks bitterly as he rests against Liagoth's massive side, the smooth slide of scales and the warmth of her inner flame a stark contrast to the steel walls of the cell he's just been rescued from. He'd been a fool, to let them get so close, to think he had any family beside his dragon and Pepper.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hi everyone. So, I have to say that I'm sorry. I know I said that this would go up last week and that Sivaas would be updated this week, but I forgot I had dental surgery to have my wisdom teeth removed last week, so this is just getting done now, but Sivaas will be update by the middle of next week. As Sivaas winds down, I'm still wondering if you guys have prompts for the Spots!Verse one-shots that are coming. I hope that, if you have them, you'll put them in your reviews, because I love to hear your thoughts for these works!**

**My many thanks and a round of applause for Maverick14th, who was a driving force behind getting this plotted and written, and is also my acting beta. Thanks to them!**

* * *

Long ago, all across the nine realms, there lived dragons, greats beasts with scaly hides of every color the denizens of the realms could imagine. The dragons were benevolent and made their peaceful existence high in the mountains or deep in the forests where no human dare tread. But these creatures were powerful magic users and, as is often the case, dark forces sought to control these magnificent creatures for their own gains.

A war broke out, dragons versus a group that called themselves "Wyrmblight", an evil group of men and women who thought to use the dragons to take control of all the nine realms and leave nothing but terror and destruction in their wake. They weren't counting on the dragons, once thought of as scholars and healers, to be ferocious fighters.

Fire and ice blasted from the maws of the great beasts, wiping out archers and pikemen alike. But not even the most powerful of blasts from a dragon could not penetrate the magical defenses that secured their forts and garrisons and soon, the battle came to a stalemate.

The dragon Mur'rrac would solve the problem. A giant yellow brute with claws that could rend boulders, Mur'rrac suggested a partnership. With the humanoid races of the nine realms. Mur'rrac's idea was looked up with incredulity and nearly derision, but Mur'rrac's explanation would quickly turn the opinion of his fellow dragons in his favor.

The humanoid species of the nine realms, most of their species being new to the worlds and the use of magic, could not cast long range spells and needed to be close to their targets to be effective. From the backs of dragons, they could get close enough to the defended garrisons to cast spells to break their defenses and allow the dragons access.

The oldest dragons refused, on the grounds the humanoids were attacking them and could not be trusted. And so it fell to the youngest dragons to choose those that would ride upon their backs. They chose only the pure of heart, sound of mind and free of spirit and marked them as theirs, as they were possessive and would allow no others to fly with them.

They won.

To honor the tradition cemented by this first generation of dragons and their Chosen, eggs were brought before the young of the realms. The hatchlings within would only chose those younglings that they thought were the right ones for them.

Dragons and their Chosen would protect the world for centuries more, until a fateful day, some millennia later. A dark power rose from Midgard and infected a woman, turning her against all she knew. Already the woman's soul was dark with hate against the dragons as, years before, she'd thought a dragon had hatched for her and instead it had hatched for the girl next to her.

The spirit latched onto that hate and anger, imbued her with the power, and helped her levy a plague of madness against the dragons before killing her. Male dragons took to the sky and fought to the death, lifeless bodies plummeting back to ground where their Chosen already lay dead of the wounds, the Bond between dragon and Chosen killing them. Nesting mothers trampled their nests in fits of rage and then, claws still caked with remnants of the eggs shells from their nests, killed each other.

Mages from the realms over fought to rescue and preserve what they could and, in the end, once the mages had purged the plague from the dragons, the damage was staggering. Midgard and and all of the other nine realms, dragonless, save for five, sickly dragons, who would never recover to full-strength, and thirty-three eggs, pulled from the nests of their raging mothers before it was too late.

In the end, the mages and the remaining dragon-Chosen pairs had no choice. With no eggs in the other nine realms, the chances of the remaining few hatching were slim to nothing. With heavy hearts, on a cold snowy day, the mages cast the eggs to the other realms, in the hopes that the hatchlings within would one day Chose.

* * *

Tony found a stone, in the bottom right corner of the container that SHIELD gave him when he was trying to save himself from palladium poisoning. It was the darkest blue he'd ever seen, shot through with mercury, and he found himself inexplicably drawn to it. From above it looked smooth but, when he picked it up, he could feel the microscopic bumps and pitting of the surface.

He lost an hour to examining it, unwilling to put it down as old film reels played in the background. More than once, he could swear he felt it move, but instead chalked it up to exhaustion. Finally, when it looked like a solution was near, the stone was temporarily forgotten, laid on his desk amongst papers and old oil rags.

When he left to find Vanko, he stopped briefly to stare at it, mind begging him to pick it up, but he shoved down the feeling, as well as the panic regarding his reaction to the stone and suits up, ordering Dummy to guard the stone jealously. All while he's gone, the feeling nags at the back of his mind and, when he and Pepper finally make it back to the house, the first thing he did was go downstairs to his workshop basement.

Dummy, for once, has done exactly like Tony's told him to, and he's hovering near the desk, heavy wrench clutched in his claw but chirping and whirring to the stone like it would understand him. Tony smirked a little and strode over, scooping the stone up and patting Dummy affectionately on the claw. "Good job, Dummy. Why don't you take a break?" He said and the bot chirped something triumphantly before zooming away to his charging station.

Tony looked hard at the stone, face hardening slightly. "Why do I care about you so much? You're just a stupid rock." He snipes at the stone, fully expecting silence. What he's not excepting is for the stone to give a noticeable rock, a sound not unlike a squawk emanating from within. He stops short of the rest of his rant, sucks in a massive breath which then whooshes out of his chest. "Well, fuck me, Jarvis. I've finally gone insane. The rock is making noises as me." He sighed.

_"Forgive me sir but, as amusing as that idea is, you are correct to assume the stone indeed made a noise. I believe one would liken it to a young lizard, calling for its parent."_ The AI reported and Tony's eyes widened extremely, snapping down to stare at the stone.

"Jarvis, are you telling me that this isn't a rock, but some kind of egg?" He asked.

_"Yes, sir. Since you left, there has been significant thinning of the outer shell and a very faint, rhythmic sound, not unlike a heartbeat, seems to come from within. I feel it is safe to assume that this is, in fact, some form of egg."_ Tony shook his head.

"But that's not possible. I've never heard of an egg this size and color before." He snapped back, though not heatedly and he held the stone, no, egg, up for slightly closer inspection.

_"And I can find no matching description anywhere, sir. Perhaps you should wait until it hatches, and see what it reveals. It shouldn't be long now, according the frequency of movement."_ As if to match proof to explanation, the egg gave another rock and Tony nearly jumped.

"I...think you're right, Jarvis. Let's set something up." In the end, Tony ends up lining one of the few remaining bathtubs in the house with three thick blankets and a few pillows, which he lays the egg on gingerly. He eases himself to the floor right next to the tub and orders the room temperature up. If it is some kind of lizard, then it wouldn't like the cold. For hours, he sat on the tile floor, flicking idly through holograms, designing things and scrapping most of them.

Four hours later, when he'd just begun to doze off, slouched against the wall, there was a commotion from the tub. He jolted up onto his knees and peered over the edge, watching in fascination as the egg rocked once, twice, and then a crack appeared in the top. And then stillness. Worry and panic surged through him and he lunged for the egg, but when his fingers made contact with the pitted shell, it shattered in a rain of sparkling blue and mercury shrapnel.

He leaned back, hissing as he gazed at the cuts that sprinkled his arm and then turned his gaze to the tub. "No fucking way." He said in disbelief and stared at the creature wobbling about on the blankets. The hatchling was the same deep blue of the egg, the front of its neck, its chest and its belly the same brilliant mercury. Its body was lean and yet broad, four stout legs supporting it as it wobbled about. But that wasn't what had him stunned.

Curling from the hatchling's back were _wings_, blue shot through with silver and its tail, long and elegant, tapered into three points, each tipped with an arrowhead. Atop its head were stag horns and from the sides on the end of its muzzle came whiskers, reminiscent of the decoration Tony had seen on oriental dragons.

"Jarvis, what-" He stopped and stared again. The nagging sensation was back, stronger than before and behind it was, confusingly, a color, an off-white that felt like yearning to him. He shivered with the intensity of it and the off-white shifted darker, a light vanilla white with a feeling of concern a slap in the face after the yearning of only moments before.

He leaned forward unthinkingly and scooped the hatchling up and it was just small enough to fit in the curve of his two hands, and brought it close to his chest. For his efforts there was a flash of golden yellow intermixed with mocha, accompanied by a feeling of contentment and affection. Tony found himself grinning giddily despite himself and he looked down, locking eyes with the hatchling. Its eyes were a silvery blue and Tony felt himself shivering with the intelligence and feeling that lurked behind them.

The hatchling opened its mouth, revealing rows of tiny needle-like teeth and, before Tony could say anything, it surged forward, teeth sinking into the flesh near the new reactor through his shirt. White hot agony seared through him, but he could make no sound and he felt his body locking up as he fell back against the tile floor. The last thing he saw before the world went dark was the hatchling curled up on his chest, blue eyes meeting his own.

* * *

Pepper Potts was a patient woman. She had to be, considering who she worked with and was dating. Patience was just one of her many skills. So when Tony left the room at the hotel they'd been sharing an hour before they were meant to be on the StarkJet back, she chalked it up to his usual restlessness and got on the plane by herself. When she arrived at the Malibu mansion, half of the previously broken windows still blown out and not repaired yet, she expected to hear the usual cacophony of his heavy metal music coming from the lab.

What she wasn't expecting was the absolute silence that met her, still and eerie as it settled over the house. She bit her lip. "Jarvis?" She said aloud and there was a soft whir in the air before she was answered.

_"Ms. Potts, sir requires assistance in third guest bathroom."_ Was all the AI said and Pepper could feel her heart racing again, the news of Tony nearly dying, both from illness and from fighting, fresh in her mind. She raced to the room the AI had indicated and stopped dead on at the door.

Tony was sitting against the wall next to towel rack, peeling his buttondown off and Pepper jolted when she recognized the dark red stain as blood. And there was a lot. Tony was hissing in pain and, she noticed with some consternation, that the sound was echoed. Her question was answered when she looked into his lap and saw the blue and mercury creature sitting there, hissing and snapping at the shirt as Tony chucked it away.

He looked up at her and she gasped, hand flying to her mouth as she met his eyes. They were no longer the warm caramel brown she was so used to. Instead they were a glowing mercury, shot through with tiny, tiny lines of amethyst, emerald and sapphire. She shook herself, far more worried about his bleeding chest and surged forward, snagging one of the towels from the rack and kneeling down beside him.

The creature stared at her a moment before trilling lowly and squawking before waddling down Tony's legs to curl up at his ankle. "Tony what is that thing?" She asked as she pressed the towel to his chest, hand settling gently over the Arc Reactor.

_"If I may, Sir, Miss Potts? The creature seems to match the descriptions of medieval dragons, though the ornaments on its head and face more closely resemble an oriental dragon from the ancient Chinese "_ Jarvis intoned from above them. Tony and Pepper shared a look of both confusion and incredulity before Pepper pulled the towel and gasped again, which caused the inventor to follow her gaze down and then stare, equally dumbfounded.

Uncovered from the blood, a scar, like a raised tattoo, an equal in color to his eyes, now adorned his chest. A dragon, and this was unmistakably a dragon, its four legs grasping the Arc Reactor, like it was perch. It's head curled up until it rested in the hollow of Tony's throat, facing his jugular, mouth open in a roar with eyes like two small sapphires. Its wings spread out to his shoulders and its tail drifted all the way down until it wrapped around his navel in an almost complete circle.

Pepper and Tony stared at the mark, then at each other, for what seemed like eternity before their gazes drifted down to the creature curled up at Tony's ankle, one question on both of their minds, though only Tony spoke it aloud.

"What are you?"


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:Next chapter. I don't know if this is very well settled yet, but it will be soon. Every new story is hard to get going. A special thanks to all those who pointed out the Eragon-esque qualities in this story. This is the product of not enough sleep, way too much caffine and a marathong of all things marvel, the Eragon movies and Tumblr. There's a little something extra in here for you guys.**

* * *

Pepper helped Tony finish cleaning the mark on his chest, which still bled sluggishly afterward so, with careful and, she thought bitterly, practiced hands, she helped him wrap gauze around his chest, mindful of the new reactor. All the while as they did this, the little creature slept on at Tony's ankle, occasionally trilling and turning over.

When Tony was cleaned up they rose from the bathroom floor and Pepper watched with amused and frustrated exasperation as Tony crouched down and scooped the tiny creature up in his arms again. Of course he wasn't going to let the hatchling, dragon or otherwise, out of his sight. It was, to him, a puzzle that he had to solve and Pepper, for all her worrying, would be by his side. The hatchling awoke when Tony picked it up, blinking brilliant mercury eyes, now the color of Tony's own eyes, shot through with that same myriad of stunning colors.

And Pepper stopped, staring at both the inventor and hatchling with startled understanding.

She herself loved to read, and devoured books of all genres, but none more-so than fantasy books. She'd always been drawn to their vivid back stories and intricate through-lines. Her favorite had been, thus far, the Inheritance Cycle, the story of a poor farm boy, bonded to a dragon. And while nothing so dramatic had happened to Eragon's appearance had at first occurred as had happened to Tony, Pepper couldn't help but drawn the parallels.

She mentioned it to Tony shorty after they had arrived in the kitchen and Tony paused before looking down at the hatchling in his arms. The little creature, and Tony decided firmly in that moment that, indeed, it looked like a dragon and that he would call it that, stared back at him with eerily intelligent eyes and Tony felt a brush of possession, marked by a slash of cedar though the light blue haze that he's, unconsciously, gotten used to already.

Tony was, in his own way, fascinated by the way the dragonling could, at less than two hours old, already communicate so easily with him, without words, and Tony wondered if he could do the same. He reached into his head and pulled on the most neutral feeling he could find, his own curiosity and puzzlement at the situation, tinged a light blue only a few shades darker than the Arc Reactor and imagined pushing it at the dragonling.

There was a moment of silence before there was a sharp sound in his head, not unlike a cry of surprised joy and it took Tony a minute to realize that Pepper hadn't heard it and was instead staring at Tony with patience. It had been in his head. Tony looked at the dragonling again and then wandered over to the island, setting it down and taking a stool for himself. Pepper decided to leave him to it and set down a bottle of water, a cup of coffee and a stuffed sandwich for him before leaving him to go and clean the bathroom.

* * *

Tony drank his coffee and stared at the dragonling who stared back. He'd tried pushing more feelings at the hatchling and had only been semi-successful. He quickly discovered that feelings he made up were quickly discarded by the hatchling, and that it couldn't really be lied too, because it was entwined with him now.

He wondered if he could send words like he could emotions and very carefully, he formed a thought and pushed it gently at the hatchling. _**"Can you understand me?"**_There was a moment of unsure sience before a tendril tickled his temple.

"_T-tony?"_The voice was soft and child-like, trilling and, Tony was shocked to realize, with the barest hint of an accent, one that he couldn't readily place. He was only silent for a moment before he smiled and received a flash of bright yellow affection in return. Tony felt himself smiling a little in return, not even really realizing it.

A grumble from his stomach, echoed by a smaller, but no less urgent grumbling from the hatchling, pulled their attention away from the exchange and Tony grinned impishly. He pulled over the sandwich Pepper had left and took off the top piece of bread and the lettuce. It was thick-cut turkey, mostly likely fresh from the deli that week and Tony dragged out two of the thicker slices before tearing them apart with his fingers and holding one bit out to the hatchling.

The dragonling took the hunk of turkey from his fingers with enthusiasm and Tony couldn't help but smile as he sat back, content to join the hatchling in eating for the time being.

The hatchling just kind of...wormed its way into Tony and Pepper's daily lives. It didn't have a name and neither of them knew whether or not if was a boy or girl even. But it didn't seem to bother the dragonling much at all when Tony would shout "Get down from there scales!" instead of being addressed by a name.

Tony spent a day on the internet, using Jarvis to comb for all the myths and legends of dragons and Tony was fascinated to find out which ones held true and which were quickly proven false. The little dragonling loved shiny things and, more often than not when it accompanied him to the lab, the hatchling would try and make off with some small tool or another. Eventually Tony gave up trying to get the tools back and instead would craft tiny figurines out of leftover metals he had lying around and the hatchling would trill in sheer happiness before flutter-hopping away to the corner of the couch it claimed for itself.

It was not a strict meat-eater and Tony was only too amused the first time she stole asparagus off of Pepper's plate one day, gulping it down before Pepper could even open her mouth to protest. It grew exponentially and, before they realized it, the hatchling that had once fit in the palm of his hands was not the size of small dog and had all the energy of a dozen small children. Of course, this is when Tony was glad the Malibu mansion had such an open floor plan, which gave the little hatchling plenty of room to run and jump around without really worrying about breaking anything.

For now, anyway.

* * *

The hatchling was named by accident, much to Pepper's endless amusement. Tony had spent nights nose to nose with the dragonling, who perched on his desk, tossing names around. Each had been reproached with a flash of rejection. Pepper had pointed out that the names he'd been suggesting had all been male names, and that he might try some female ones.

These were met with less absolute rejection and more thoughtful disagreement from the dragonling. Now confident that the hatchling was a female, he began again a foray to name the hatchling. At last, Tony would give up for the day and find something else to entertain him. The night it happened, Tony was underneath one of his many cars, the dragonling sat on his stomach and a tool jammed between his teeth. Pepper had come down to remind him of his schedule the following day.

"And don't forget, you have a meeting with the law firm in the morning to get the patents settled up." Tony pulled himself slightly out from underneath the car, face scrunched in confusion and distaste. He hated lawyers.

"Lee a' got'?" he asked, words muffled by the tool and Pepper took it to meant "Scree and Groff" the senior patent lawyers on the Arc Energy project. But before Pepper could respond in the affirmative, the hatchling squeaked loudly and began to jump up and down on Tony's stomach. Tony spit the tool out and his arms shot out to wrap around the dragonling, before he came up to sit with her against his chest.

"What what?" He asked. Pepper watched with amazement as they had another one of their silent conversations and then Tony was sounding something out, which sounded like a name, over and over again until at last he said "Liagoth" and the hatchling squeaked again, coming up to nip his chin and nose in that affectionate way she had.

Tony sat back looking pleased with himself and stroked his hands down the dragonling's, now named Liagoth, back, smearing grease over her deep blue scales. He rose up and stared at them both before looking at Pepper, in her clean dress and then gently set Liagoth down. Both inventor and dragon stalked forward and Pepper realized what they meant to do.

"Anthony Edward Stark if you get grease on this dress I will-!" She was cut off as, as one, they surged forward. Liagoth curled through her legs, painting grease on her stockings and Tony grabbed her in a hug, laughing as he brushed kisses all over her face, no doubt getting that covered in grease as well. She shouted at him the whole time, barely containing her laughter as she smacked him gently with the clipboard, demanding he let her go.

When he did, both he and Liagoth moved away and Pepper looked down at herself. She was, indeed, covered in grease now where Tony and Liagoth had touched her. She sighed but smiled because both inventor and dragonling looked so pleased with themselves that she didn't have the heart to scold them. She glanced at her watch, and noted it was later in the evening. So she reached over and grabbed his hand.

"Come on. We're both going to shower and then relax for a while. You've been at it for days." Tony, for once against his usual habit, just nodded and smiled that blissed out happy smile he only got around her and, recently, around Liagoth, gave instructions for Jarvis to lock down the lab and followed her up to the master suite.

Tony didn't take baths anymore. Not since he'd returned from Afghanistan, and Pepper never questioned why, at least out loud to Tony, only helped him find a company to replace all the baths with massive walk in showers. Liagoth climbed in with them, as she had since day one, and lay in the basin behind Tony, trilling and squeaking in content as the water dripped over her from the head above. Pepper took a minute when she was washing his chest to stop and marvel in the trust he had in her. First with the Arc Reactor and now with this, the new mark that adorned his chest. He shivered when she ran gently fingers over it. It was scaly to the touch, but soft and supple. He made a sound when she pressed on it and she removed her fingers with a mental note to herself. It was, also, apparently, very sensitive to touch.

The shower finished quickly after that and they dressed in loose clothes before making their way to the living room and all three of them collapsing on the couch in one, comfortable, heap.

* * *

A month later and Tony was more than impressed by Liagoth. She continued to grow and was, at that moment, the size of a very large dog. She still loved cuddling with Tony and hanging out in the labs but Tony was growing worried. Surely a creature so large, and on that was undoubtedly meant to fly no less, could not be comfortable in the mansion.

He was leaning on the counter in the kitchen thinking of what he could do with the Iron Man suit when it happened.

Liagoth came bounding in, warbling and trilling with happiness when her forepaws scrabble don the freshly done linoleum and she ran headlong into Tony. There was a moment of distortion, bright light and loud sound, and Tony waited until the world stopped spinning before and went quiet before he leaned over and emptied his stomach onto the ground.

And froze.

Ground? He'd been in his kitchen just a few seconds ago. Where was he now? He staggered to his feet, wiping his mouth off on his sleeve and looked around him. "Shit. Definitely not my kitchen anymore." He sighed. Wherever they were, it was night and Tony was standing in middle of some kind of field of tall grass, which was coarse to the touch. He sighed and turned to Liagoth. But before he can ask if she even knows what happened, and he knows she'll respond in that way of her's, with colors and emotions and picture but not words, never words unless it's his name, there's a sound to his left.

Tony turns around to investigate and freezes.

From the long grass comes a great shape, taller and longer then a bus, emerald green with terrifying amber eyes and beside it a man of impossible height and ice blue skin.

And the creature snarls.


End file.
